resolutions to the meeting. Introductory to the business he read several passages from a petition presented in 1793 by Lord Grey to the house of Commons, illustrative of the general topics insisted upon by the friends of reform, and he after wards entered into a discussion on the corrupt state of the representation. Parliamentary reform was neither the wild project of inexperienced politicians, or confined to the enterprising extravagance of aspiring demagogues. This reform had the sanction of the most distinguished characters, amongst whom were Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt, but the latter had proved an apostate to the cause. He concluded with asserting, that the friends of reform appealed to the reason, and not to the passions of the people; and then read four very spirited resolutions.

The resolutions were seconded by Mr. Peter, also of Cornwall. He accused ministers during the last week of offering that servile adulation at the foot of the throne which would have disgraced the senate of Buonaparte, and of treating with contempt the complaints of a suffering people. The borough system The borough system was the fruitful source of all the misfortunes of the country, it had alienated the affections of Ireland, and had involved the nation in destructive wars.

Mr. Blount, of Staffordshire, pointed out the difficulties with which the friends of reform had to encounter. The remedy was, that meetings be held in every county, that petitions be presented from every direction, and when the public voice was raised, it would enforce obedience.

Mr. Burgoyne, of Essex, said, that the cause for which this assembly was convened was not that of Englishmen only, but of all mankind. He was proud to be associated with gentlemen whose rank in life placed them above sinister pur

poses. He trembled at the opposition to reform, because if not acquired the corruption must be productive of a violent revolution.

Sir F. Burdett apologized to the meeting for being obliged soon to leave them, on account of a motion which he had that night to make in the house of Commons, relative to the flogging of soldiers. Before he went, however, he could not avoid expressing his concurrence with the resolutions which had been brought forward. It would be merely taking up their time to attempt to prove what every person who came there, he had no doubt, was already convinced of, the necessity of a reform in the representation of parliament. Undoubtedly, if the house of Commons was corrupt, every part of the country necessarily became corrupt, for how could a country not be corrupt, when they knew that the most flagrant acts of corruption were com mitted, and avowed to be commit ted, by those who were entrusted with the making of their laws?— The purity of persons in judicial si tuations was of the utmost consequence to the country; and here he would not say that the persons at present on the bench were not as pure as it was possible for persons in their office to be; but it was well known from history, that the instruments and tools by which, in former times, the subjects were oppressed, were neither more nor less than the judges of the land. In what a state at present was the liberty of the press? The doctrines which were formerly cherished by the first names in the country, were now a sufficient cause of persecution, and judgments which, in former times, would not have disgraced the star chamber, were every day pronounced. He had no hesitation in saying, that the li berties of the country were now exposed to more peril than ever they were under the Stuarts. Under all these circumstances, he could pot

help being grateful to the press for what it continued to do. Little did they know the perils and nice escapes of those who had to conduct the press in the present times; for the most innocent expressions, exposing themselves to the risk of trial, and to be brought to ruin. He could not, therefore, avoid expressing himself thankful for what they continued to receive from the press, considering the state of degradation and corruption in which it was now placed. The origin of all this evil was to be traced to the house of Commons; the house of Commons was to be considered as the pendulum of the clock on which the proper motion of all the other parts depend. So long as they should continue subject to that corrupt horough-mongering system, by which a small number of individuals had it in their power to retain a majority of the house of Commons, they remain ed subject to the most contemptible and odious of oligarchies-contemptible on account of its corruption, and odious on account of its power. He had heard of radical reforms; but could any thing be more moderate than the reform they were ask, ing, a reform which the people of England were indisputably entitled to. The rights of the people of England were violated the rights which were provided for in the compact between the government and the people, as that compact which was now violated. The people of England would not allow themselves to be defrauded of their rights; they would insist on restoring the constitution to its purity; they would stick to the text of the constitution, and have nothing but the constitution of the country. They would not merely skin the ulcer o'er the sore, while rank corruption festered all beneath.

Mr. Jones, of Hampshire, said he came from the country last week with high anxiety respecting the

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Lady this and lady that much a-year, because their father, though a man of great fortune, was literally so poor, as not to be able to support them. There were two kinds of poverty-one, which every man of feeling wished to see dimi nished-parish poverty; the other— national poverty, when persons who ought to contribute to their country were so mean as to take alms. The whole country was indeed involved in the vortex of corruption. He thought they ought not to separate without coming to something specific; and he did not know whether any specific plan had been prepared,

Mr. Cunning, of Warwickshire, said, many flagrant abuses had hitherto disgraced the country-he meant the conduct of the contending parties in parliament. When they got into power they soon forgot who opposed them. The country had trusted to the declaration of those out of place, but no sooner did they get in, than they shewed that they had forgotten their former professions and pledges. He trusted the events of the last ten years would dispel the illusion.

Mr. Northmore, alluding to the freedom of election, said, he was saved much trouble by the honourable house itself, when it has been offered to be proved that " 157 individuals have the power of returning a majority"-where the traffic in seats

has been declared “ as notorious as the sun at noon-day"-where a noted M. P. (Mr. Windham) declared that corruption existed from top to Bottom."--And yet at one time such misdeeds, "at the sound of which our ancestors would have startled with indignation," are not to be punished because of their notoriety; and at another, "because the attempt died in embryo, and there is no result." In that house it was declared by a noble Lord, that it was "fortunate that such places did exist ;" another member said, that "that the thing Bad become familiar by custom." Nay, a celebrated Whig (Lord Milton) last year gave it as his opinion, "that the public were nearly as well represented in the present state of the house of Commons as it was possible." After all this (said Mr. Northmore,) and more, what will you think of the declaration (as recorded in the debates) of the minister, who, after alTowing in another place the existence of these things, and that it was a scandalous abuse," had the boldness to declare in his place, June 15th, 1809, that the "people were more united against reform than almost upon any other question, because they thought reform unnecessary." Gentlemen, I hope this day will teach the minister to discredit his assertion. You will teach that corruption is not necessary to govern England. I trust that the present Royal Prince, who has so nobly declared, that the "power and Bonours of the crown are a trust rested there for the benefit of his people;" and that it is "his fixed determination never to bestow any place or appointment, meant to be an assylum or reward for the toils and services of our gallant soldiers or seamen, on any person upon ac

count of parliamentary connection, or in return for parliamentary votes;" and his education of his daughther in these sentiments-I trust that such a Prince will put a stop to

mean servility; that corruption will cease to reign in his presence; but that if ever he does condescend to corrupt, I hope it will be the only ambition becoming a good Prince, that corruption which solicits the hearts of his people. Gentlemen, we want members of bonesty and integrity-we want not orators—we have too many of these--we want men who will not sell their consciences for a job, nor barter their intellects at the expence of their integrity. Such men you can only obtain by a reform; a reform equally beneficial to king and people. I know how much a certain class of men is given to hiss and hoot when their dinner is in danger-but I beg you to recollect that there are two animals in the world which have no other means of venting their applause but by hisses, and those are geese and serpents.

The thanks of the meeting to their Chairman, Sir John Throckmorton, for his attention to the business of the meeting were then moved.-The meeting then broke up.

The business of the morning being concluded, the meeting at six o'clock, sat down to dinner, which was served in excellent style, and was conducted with the utmost regularity. After the cloth was removed, the company were enlivened by some appropriate songs, and many suitable toasts were given.

tary protests, that parliaments have had an unconstitutional duration.

That these fatal corruptions in that assembly, which ought to be the guardian of our liberties, are the radical and true causes of national wrong and calamity, in all their forms and varieties; whether of intemperate quarrels with other states, or of ruinous debt and the pauperising of millions-or of the oppressive, relentless, and inquisitorial character of taxation, or of repeated restrictions on the freedom of the press-or of the complicated evils and dangers of the present conflict-or of encroachments on the independence of the crown; or, to sum up all, of a systematic tendency to subvert the constitution; wherefore it is the conviction of this meeting, that a Reform in the Commons house of parliament, is equally essential to the independence of the crown, and to the liberties of the people.

Resolved-That it being highly expedient, that the nation in all its divisions should, on the subject of the decay of representation, proclaim its opinions, both as to the wrong and the remedy, this meeting for itself declares-

That the aggregate of usurpations which have taken from the people a majority in the Commons house of parliament, has established that most pernicious of all species of governments, an oligarchy.

That the King, with prerogatives balanced by the independence of a parliament, holding the national purse, would have no more than a wholesome degree of authority, essential to good government, but yet perfectly congenial with freedom; whereas an oligarchy, that usurps legislation and the public purse, hath unbounded means of oppression.

Resolved -That this parliamentary oligarchy became powerful, only because the nation was supine-rash and intemperate, only because the nation, misled by impostors, forgot its rights and neg lected its duties.

Among a people, whose constitution is an unrivalled fabric of political wis dom-a people acquainted with their rights and their duties, and conversant with the foundations of both-the ways of parliamentary reform are ways of freedom and peace-inasmuch as this reform can only be obtained by appeals to truth and reason, to law, justice, and morality. Such are the foundations of the English constitution.

The objects of parliamentary reform, a constitutional representation of the people in parliament, would as far surpass Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights, excellent as they are, as political liberty in possession can surpass paper declarations of a right to it.

Resolved-That in the opinion of this meeting, those Howards, the illustrious descendants of the barons of Runnymead, those of our nobility and gentry, in whose veins continues to flow the blood of the Hampdens, or the Pyms, of the Sidneys, the Russels, or the Caven dishes, with all who respect the founders and assertors of our constitution, and who wish it to remain a glorious monument of English courage, wisdom, and virtue, may be expected actively to promote county and other local meetings, that public opinion may be declared, and a patriot union of men of rank, property, talent, and public spirit, may be consolidated, with a hope that numerous petitions may be presented to parliament for a reform in the representation of the people.

INQUIRY RESPECTING PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE.

The late argument of Lord Ellenborough on the question of Privilege has excited no small surprise in the minds of those who have given any attention to that subject; and for one I must confess myself totally at a loss to account for the grounds of his lord

ship's opinion, but particularly on that part of it where he justifies the breaking into a house by the practice of the inferior courts, for a contempt.-] should be glad if any of your correspondents would tell me in what law or law book that power is to be found. As to the legality of the Speaker's warrant, it can have arisen only from the tacit permission of the

courts, because in our best law books and according to the theory of our constitution, the power to grant a warrant resides solely in the executive or its representatives. Neither Coke in his Institutes, nor Hawkins, in bis Pleas of the Crown, mention any other kind of warrant, and the former expressly says, "that all warrants in order to be lawful, must have a lawful conclusion, "that is safely to keep till delivered by law, and not till further orders," and for this he refers to the Petition of Right granted by Charles I. I remain &c.

W. BURDON. Hartford, near Morpeth, June 7.

STATE OF THE NATION AS DESCRIBED IN 1802.

SIR,

It is somewhat unfortunate that the opinions and speculations of our politicians, those more particularly which enter into the system of the ruling powers, should so soon be burried down the stream of time, to the land of oblivion. I cannot but be of opinion, that if my countrymen had been more attentive to past events, and seriously reflected upon the Cost of the various unsuccessful plans to subjugate America and France in the two last wars, they would not have been so easily persuaded to involve themselves in a third war; commenced in injustice; which has not all along had a rational object in prospect, and which threatens the country with ruin. But so versatile are the plans of ministers, and the opinions of their supporters with respect to what system is necessary to promote our national prosperity, that in the course of a few years we find those measures pursued which are in direct opposi tion to those on which we were assured, depended not only the prosperity but the existence of the coun

try.

The last was obstinately persevered in, because France being in a revolutionary state, threatened all surrounding governments with a similar state. France has since been in possession of a regular monarchical government, and the greater part of the continent is in possession of the inestimable blessing of peace, internal and external, and yet we nỡ less obstinately persevere in war, in the ardent hope of throwing the whole of the continent into that revolutionary state we once so professed to dread.

I was led to these reflections by looking over a few evenings since, two or three political pamphlets written soon after the close of the late war, (1802,) and one in particular, writ ten by a considerable omnium holder, and of course a warm supporter of the existing administration. The monied men in general do not seem to have had so very high an idea of the flourishing state of our affairs as the writer, nor to have been so sanguine as to" the certainty of peace for

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a long series of years," or of the "3 per cent consols rising to par." The pamphlet however so amused me, that I cannot help sending you the following extract, which may probably afford equal amusement to your readers.-The title is—Considerations Political, Financial and Commercial on the important Subject of the Public Funds. By Simeon Pope.

"It is not only the opinion of the most profound politicians, but of the public at large, that no æra of PEACE ever presented so fair a prospect of a durable enjoyment of its many blessings, as that recently concluded with the French government.

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-The reasons are pretty obvious.—Europe, in the whole annals of the world, never experienced, throughout, so great a convulsion, and so universal a prostration of strength, as what the last ten years war occasioned. It is with the body politic as in the body natural, that in